


Missouri Fever

by SelfEE



Category: Little House on the Prairie (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-11
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:14:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28009803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SelfEE/pseuds/SelfEE
Summary: Laura and Almanzo are having a hard time adjusting to city life in Burr Oak. Sequel to The Last Farewell. Chapter updated and changed for content. Complete in one chapter.
Comments: 4





	Missouri Fever

Missouri Fever

Sequel to The Last Farewell

1890

The townhouse ground floor apartment that the Ingalls rented out was ideal. Downstairs consisted of a foyer, a small parlor, a dining room and a kitchen. Double glass doors inside the parlor led out to a small backyard. The four bedrooms upstairs were small, but they weren't tiny either. On one end of small hallway stood the boys and girls rooms. With Albert gone, James had the room all to himself. Carrie, Grace and Cassandra shared the room next door.

On the opposite end were two more rooms. The one that Laura and Almanzo were in, all the furniture was catty cornered to save space, except for a full sized bed, which stood in the middle. There was a desk and a chair in one corner and in another stood a chest of drawers. The couch and a flat storage chest took up the last corner closest to the window. Right next door was the room that Jenny and Rose were sharing with Caroline and Charles.

Almanzo was sitting at the desk working with figures, checking to make sure his previous answers were correct. So far they seemed to be on the mark. He threw the pen down in frustration, placed the papers on the table and walked over to the window.  
Four months had passed by since Walnut Grove had been razed. Almanzo decided to move his family to Burr Oak after speaking to his father in law and Laura. It had sounded as if he could really make it here. Charles made it sound so appealing, hadn't he? Stores were always looking for someone to clerk and load, he told Almanzo and he had plenty of experience.

He had gotten odd jobs around the city and he had a steady call as a handyman. It seemed he was needed everywhere. He also used his woodworking skills whenever he could. There was the local feed and seed where he worked part time, three days a week. It wasn't as big as the one in Walnut Grove, it was more of a storefront, but Almanzo didn't mind. It was right across the street.

He was beginning to have his doubts though. Looking out the window here wasn't the same as it was in Walnut Grove. There, he had lots of peace and quiet except for the sound of prairie grass waving lazily in the wind. Here he saw sidewalks with people and horses and buggies crowded noisily along the dirty streets. Out there, he could see stars shooting across the prairie sky. Here, all he saw was nothing but lamplight. On the prairie, there were plenty of open spaces where he could play his guitar or just sit and enjoy the quiet. There was absolutely nothing like that here in the city.

It was the same with clerking and loading and making deliveries. Yes, he had the experience and yes, he had done it numerous times. He had a reputation of working hard, doing things correctly and quickly. 

Out on the prairie, people appreciated it. Here in the city, people took it for granted.

But then again, there was always an exception to the rule and that was a Mr. Blake, who owned the Feed and Seed store, had given him a beautiful big red apple as a token of appreciation. He said he got it in Missouri, which he called the "Land of the Big Red Apple." It was too beautiful to eat; Almanzo decided and left it on the table, forgotten.

Almanzo shook his head. Being in the city just wasn't the same.

Could it be because he was older? He didn't think so. He was doing this since he was eighteen, since he was living with his sister, Eliza Jane, and taking care of her farm. Almanzo was thirty three now; still strong and healthy, although he had worked hard to remain that way.

It could also be that his lifelong dream of being a successful farmer, like his father, never left him. He had loved farming since he was a kid. It was all he ever wanted to be, all he wanted to do.

But the prairies wiped him out at every turn. He had gotten diphtheria and that was followed by a stroke, which left him partially paralyzed. He had to learn to walk all over again, but to him it was worth it. There were hailstorms, drought, tornados and crippling debt. Almanzo had lost both his land and most of the inheritance that Laura received from Mrs. Flannery.

Laura was working too, just as hard as he was. She was working for a dressmaker, sometimes in the shop and sometimes at home. She mended and sewed dresses and suits, sewing buttons and making button holes. It took her all day and sometimes she worked far into the night. It was against his wishes, but she finally convinced him that they needed the money if they wanted to move.

Plus, they weren't sure where to go. It was too hot down south and too cold up north. They would need something in the middle that could accommodate both their needs and desires.

They had discussed several places, even going so far as New Zealand, but Laura didn't want to move that far away. There had to be something that they could agree on.

"Manly?" Laura's voice called from downstairs.

She had two plates of food in her hands along with a paper bag dangling from one. She had at least five or six dresses draped across her arm. Almanzo grabbed the plates of ham, green beans and mashed potatoes and set them on the table, along with the paper bag, which he placed next to the apple. He took the dresses and laid them over the chair.

"How was work today?" she whispered as he held her in his arms. "Pa said the Feed and Seed wasn't all that busy."

"He's right, but Mr. Blake keeps sayin' it'll pick up come Monday." He looked at her. "Why did you bring these plates up here? Where's Jenny and Rosey?"

"Ma thought it better if we ate by ourselves tonight. Jenny's going to watch the kids. We're spending the entire weekend alone, Manly. Ma thought we needed it." She pointed to the plates. "We should eat before it gets any colder than what it already is."

Almanzo nodded. "You brought some dresses home with you?"

"These are the last of them. I'll get them done in an hour and I've got all weekend to finish them."

They ate together on the table, both of them silent. When they finished, Laura wiped the plates and piled them one on top of the other. That's when she noticed the figures that Almanzo was working on. She picked them up and looked at them, studying exactly what he had done.

Almanzo watched her for a second, stood up and walked to the window.

Laura picked up the paper and turned to him.

"Is this all of it?"

Almanzo turned away from the window, moved over to the couch and sat down next to her.

Laura looked at him. "You've got to cheer up, Manly. Pull yourself together. Pa and Ma notice it and I'm sure the kids do too. That's the reason she sent the food upstairs with me. "

"And the reason the kids are eating downstairs, isn't it?"

Laura nodded. "Would it be a consolation to you if I told you that I hate living in the city as much as you do?"

Almanzo turned to her and tried not to smile. She always knew what he was thinking.

"It's not as simple as all that, Laura. We need the money. Your Ma and Pa were nice enough to let us stay here until we got back on our feet."

"I know, Manly," she said, "and I know we need the money. I'm good at sewing, but I never enjoyed it. I don't know how Ma and Pa do it. I mean, Pa has a good job and they have a great place here. After all they've been through, they deserve all of this. It's nice seeing them again and all, but I feel like we don't belong here. There's got to be someplace where we can…."

Almanzo silenced her with a kiss. When they pulled apart, they stared at one another.

"Beth," he said, moving closer and cuddled into her on the couch, his head leaning against her chest, his legs bent just enough to fit on the cushions.

She placed her arm around him, "This is only temporary, Manly. It will get better, I know it will." Laura answered as she pulled him closer and leaned her head on his. They fell asleep that way.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Almanzo was the first to wake up. He sat up and was surprised to see that they had fallen asleep on the couch instead of in their bed. He looked over at his wife and caressed her cheek.

Her eyes fluttered open and found him staring at her, a wide smile on his face. His eyes locked with hers.

"Manly," she said, reaching up to run her fingers through his hair.

"I love to watch you sleep, darlin'," he said, "but your mother probably has breakfast ready and …."

"I think we have the whole house to ourselves this morning," Laura said, looking at him. "I think they've taken the kids out for…"

But he never let her finish. He kissed her and pulled back to look into her eyes. "They really did leave us alone, didn't they?"

Laura nodded her head.

He smiled and stood up. He pulled her close and kissed her again.

XXXXXXXXXXXXX

"We're going to have to eat something," Laura said, sitting up and sliding into her robe. She threw Almanzo's robe on him as he lay next to her on their bed.

"There's a beautiful bright red apple on the table over there," he said, pointing to the chest, pushing the robe off his face.

Laura's eyes grew wide. "You got one too?"

Almanzo sat up as he slid into his robe. He stared at her. "What do you mean too?"

Laura hopped off the bed and opened the paper bag. She pulled out another beautiful red apple along with papers she had gotten at the real estate office. She handed the papers to Almanzo.

"All the real estate agents are pushing Missouri farmland, Manly. It caught my eye. The farmland is fertile and good for growth. The weather there is ideal, not too hot and not too cold. It's exactly what we're looking for."

Almanzo didn't answer; he was mesmerized by the advertisement. As soon as he stopped reading, he turned to her and smiled.

"I think we might have somethin' here, Beth. Just a couple of more months and we'll have it."

He grabbed her around the waist, pulled her close and kissed her. "You think this is worth goin' after?"

She nodded. "I don't see why not?" Laura said. "This is your dream, Almanzo, our dream and we can work on it together. A chance for a successful working farm is within our reach. I can see it all, Manly."

Almanzo smiled. "Don't touch those apples, Beth. They will be our goal, somethin' we can work toward. He held up the paper. "I want to show this to your Ma and Pa when they get back, if that's okay with you."

Laura nodded her head and looked at him. Almanzo was smiling from ear to ear.

"They're calling it 'Missouri fever,'" she said.

"And I think we've caught it, Beth," he answered, pulling her close.

And two months later, Almanzo, Laura, Jenny and Rose waved goodbye to the Ingalls family and the city of Burr Oak and traveled to the Land of the Big Red Apple. They carried with them the promise of a fresh start in Mansfield, Missouri on a brand new farm, which Laura and Almanzo would name Rocky Ridge.

Author's Note:

The actual year that the Wilders traveled to Mansfield from DeSmet, SD was 1894, not 1890. 1890 is my creation only and used here to fit into my timeline of stories. I have also used 1890 as the time Walnut Grove is destroyed instead of 1901.

In a previous story that I wrote, Remembering the Past, Laura , Almanzo and a fifteen year old Rose travel to a partially rebuilt Walnut Grove in 1902 to visit Charles and Caroline. Charles has developed heart problems and is urged by a doctor to leave Burr Oak for quieter pastures. It was the only place that Charles could think of to spend his remaining years after they heard that several of the old residents had moved back there. 

In order to earn money to move, Laura did work for a dressmaker and Almanzo worked at odd jobs. It took them two years to get the money with Laura working at the dressmaker earning a dollar a day. They had saved up one hundred dollars and used that money as a down payment on the land that would become Rocky Ridge Farm.

Real estate agents advertised Missouri farmland from 1870 to 1920.


End file.
